When Districts Collide
by thirteenthxdoctorx
Summary: Sequel to When Factions Collide. Out of the Games, Wren has to make a call to save her own life, or thousands of others. Peter isn't as changed as everyone thinks, and wants to take Erudite back. It seems that even after the Games, Wren isn't done fighting, and has to make the decision of a lifetime.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: **__** WOWOWOW It's been a while since I updated. I'm so sorry for putting my loyal FF family under such stress and I am back from my hiatus! With plenty of news of course. I'm a senior (an almost graduated senior...1 MONTH!) and I just have not had the time to write until now, so I've spent my spring break writing like three chapters. For all those who've posted reviews and questions, I'll get back to them soon I promise. And of course, the highlight of my entire year (and for anyone else who cares) I'M GOING TO BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY so if anyone who's reading this goes there HI, please be friends with me. As always, I don't own this, and yes there are going to be some differences in quality, characters (although not too OOC), and I'll let you know if there's anything I'm doing that doesn't fit on purpose. So yeah, that's that, and Happy Reading~**_

* * *

When Districts Collide

Chapter 1: Wren

Two and a Half Months

I had become cold. I had become a stone. It was hard to touch me, I was ice. It seemed the only two who could break through me at that time were Isaac and Tobias, but even then they had trouble. I tried to convince myself I was becoming like Peter, being a leader, but really, we all knew that it was because of these Games. It didn't help to have the knowledge that every year, Theo, Adam and I would be going back to watch kids be put to the death in a rink where they had no choice. We were lucky we had four victors instead of two.

Theo was in the same boat as me, according to Tobias, and according to what I saw of him, which was very little. I wanted to be with him, I did. But my heart wouldn't allow it; it was dying. I was trying to shield him, everyone from my constant panic, my constant nightmare that I lived every day. Tobias said that Theo wanted to help, but I couldn't put that task on him, he would become as miserable as me. Well, if he wasn't already.

Today was one of my good days. I laughed when Tobias told a joke, and I smiled when Isaac carried me out of the Pit after lunch, back to the control room to check up on everybody. It wasn't easy being a leader, but I signed up for it, and it took my mind off of my panic. It seemed that Theo had taken off of leadership on my account, because he was worried that I wouldn't do my job if I saw him. In truth, I wanted to see him, and the only time I did was at dinner, in a group setting. When I had told everyone the news of our breakup, they still told him to sit with us, but they sympathized with me. Mels and Bri did at least.

It was a long two months, and I still could not get over it. I needed something, someone, to keep the edge off. I had turned to alcohol at one point, but I decided quickly against it, not wanting to succumb to any sort of addiction. Not from what I heard about other victors in the Capitol, who were addicted to other drugs. I've seen them on the screen, with their skin pale and wrinkled, their eyes dead and too large for their face. I shivered at the thought of ever becoming them, but I still needed something to take the edge off, so Tobias always put alcohol in my tea when I came over. I think he knew I also needed human contact, so he was open to me. His door was always open for me, I even had a spare key that now replaced Theo's. I still wore his necklace, because it was still important to me, but his key was sitting in my drawer.

My life was not an easy one, and it came with mostly work, and little play. It was the end of August, meaning that for those who were not members, school would be starting. Then, at the end of the year for them, the Aptitude test. Then, we, as leaders, and other volunteers, would train them. Then the Hunger Games. And repeat.

The only way I really occupied my free time was by going into my fear landscape. Only one fear had changed. Instead of going into the reaping, mine was now being in the Games again, faced with killing everyone. It didn't matter who, the faces changed every so often, but the fear was just simply going back into that Arena. The fear of me not making it into Dauntless also left, because not only was I in, I was highly ranked. So I had eleven fears.

I had just come out of it again when I heard Tobias' voice behind me. "You know that 'doing reckless things' I was talking about? Yeah, this is one of them." he stood against the glass door frame to the simulation center.

"Four, how did you know where I was?"

"It wasn't that hard to figure out, I was in your position once too."

"Right, I forgot. You just seem so happy all the time that I forget that you've felt pain too."

"I miss the old happy you, you know. Isaac and Theo aren't the only ones who lay claim to how you feel. I care. Come on," he gestured me to follow him, and we walked down to the chasm together, passing Theo and Isaac on the way there. I waved and Four nodded, and Isaac nodded back. Theo cringed and kept walking.

We went to the bottom of the chasm, found a rock, and sat down. He pulled out a flask of some sort of liquid. I sniffed it. Rum. That was a new one.

"Where did you get this one?" I asked him.

"Oh, stole it from the bar. They won't notice. So, tell me," he took a long drink and passed it to me. I took a couple sips, just enough to get the edge off, and handed it back.

"Tell me what your fears are."

"Well, they've changed. I lost one, getting into Dauntless, because obviously I'm in. But one changed to the Games. It used to be just the reaping, but now it's being in the Arena. The rest are still the same."

"How many fears?"

"Eleven now, I had twelve when I first started."

"No one here that I remember has ever lost a fear. That's strange. Normally the number stays the same, it's the fears that change." he thought out loud. "But you're Divergent, so you're just an anomaly all around. Not quite fitting anywhere."

"Thanks, Four. Means so much of you to say that." my sarcasm burst out.

"I'm only speculating! I mean, I know a lot about the GPs and all, so your case isn't too bad. Of course, you're not safe, but neither am I, or Theo, or anyone with awareness actually." he sat and looked at the water rushing past us, neither of us saying anything for a little.

"It's just kind of nice being with you. I know I've said it before, but I just like talking to you about this. It's easy. It makes me feel better."

"That's what I'm here for. I still think you should try talking to him." he was talking about Theo.

"I've tried, I would if he could stop being so hurt."

"You need to stop being so hurt, you know. I'm not trying to be mean, but maybe some of this panic would go away if you just stepped up and talked to him. Get it out of the way, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand. It's harder than it looks."

"I know. I've dealt with it."

"You've dealt with panic?"

"My childhood was the zenith of anxiety and fear." He meant his father. Everyone knew about Four.

"Oh right. Well, what do you suggest I do?"

"Like I've said before, just apologise."

"But I feel too guilty, he shouldn't just take me back. How do I get him to treat me like an equal, like someone who's done wrong? He refuses to accept I've done anything bad."

"Let's get Isaac, and we'll all sort this out. You need mediators. More than one. Isaac has seen more of Theo's point of view and I've talked to you more. We need a team effort. God, if Tris and I had had this, we wouldn't have fought so much." he chuckled under his breath as he took another sip.

"You weren't under the best circumstances either. But when do you think I should talk to him?"

"I think as soon as possible. You have a case of heartbreak and so does he. It's not fair of you to grieve over each other when peace can be made."

"You're so poetic. Since when?" I laughed at him as water sprayed over our feet.

"I think I've been listening to Adam too much at meals."

"Oh God, don't get me started. If it weren't Mels, it would be almost as bad as Caroline."

"For the poetry he writes, you'd think he'd fit better into Erudite or maybe still in Amity."

"He chose Dauntless to get over his fears. And the food." We started laughing louder, our voices echoing over the water. I didn't feel too bad now. I actually felt like I could stomach something, a feeling of hunger that I hadn't felt for a while. As I thought about it, my stomach growled.

"Hey, Four, do you want to grab some cake or something? I'm starved."

"Starved? That's a new one coming from you." he elbowed me.

"I know." I hadn't been eating regular meals, and the meals I did eat were sparse. The only reason I really ate was because people would send me to the hospital if I didn't. I hadn't felt really hungry since the Games started, because my body was so used to being in starvation mode.

"Sure, let's go get something. We can think of what you're going to say there." he stood and helped me off of the rocks. "Oh, Wren, around ten, meet me outside the front. I want to show you something."

"Yeah, of course, Four. I'll be there." We walked to the Pit, my heart set on food, like a true Dauntless should be.


	2. Chapter 2

When Districts Collide

Chapter 2: Wren

Tobias left after about fifteen minutes of stuffing ourselves with cake, which was so much better than the Capitol's. When I met him outside, he was talking to Isaac and Theo. I stopped dead in my tracks. He never said that we would be doing this now.

"Oh, hey, you made it!" Tobias gave me a quick hug and drank what was left in his flask. "I'm going to need this. God, I haven't done this for two years." He turned to Isaac. The smell of the rum was left on his breath.

"Haven't done what?" I jumped into the conversation.

Isaac answered. "He's taking us all ziplining. Some of the others are coming. People you don't know. But don't worry, you're a leader. You're cool." he joked with me. I was one of three who was the most talked about, as a victor. The ultimate Dauntless. A prize I was less than willing to receive.

"You're ziplining? But your fear of heights!"

"I know. I've only done it twice. Once when I first came here, hence the fear, and the second time was with Zeke, Christina, and a few others, who should all be coming in a minute..." he squinted into the distance to look for them. "You're lucky I'm taking you, I don't do this for just anyone."

"So you're actually doing it then?" Came a voice a few yards away. I could make out the faces now, a girl with long dark hair, in what seemed to be crutches of some sort, a boy with bronze skin walking with her, and Christina, who kept up a couple feet with them.

"Zeke," he ran up and hugged the boy, clapping each other's backs.

"Four, it's been too long."

"You still living in Denver?"

"Took the train up this morning after I got your message last night. Shauna came too, hope you don't mind the extra."

"No problem. How's it going, Shauna?"

"Not bad, we're going to the Capitol soon to see what they can do with my legs. The doctor in Denver said they might have a solution."

"That's good. Guys, I want you to meet Wren."

"I know you, you were a victor. Nice job." Zeke held out his hand and shook mine. Shauna nodded, and Christina gave me a hug as she walked over. He never bothered to introduce the rest of them, so they all must have known each other. "So, what is she? New girlfriend already? I'm actually shocked." he seemed so.

"No, no way. Nothing to you, Wren." he shook his head as Theo cringed at Zeke's tone from before. I stepped by Isaac to make the point greater. "No, she's just a very good friend that we're introducing tonight to Dauntless traditions, since she never experienced them before."

"You've never been ziplining?" Zeke asked me. I shook my head. He and Shauna seemed appalled. "Four here hasn't either. At least, not while keeping his eyes open."

"Not true, I kept my eyes open the last time." he argued back.

"Well, are we going to sit here bantering about it or are we going to do it?" Shauna asked.

"Let's hop the train." and so we ran. Zeke and Shauna were in the back, Shauna trying to run walk, but I guessed it was hard for her to do that in the crutches.

The train was coming just as Zeke made it, getting Shauna aboard first and then climbing in after. I had waited last, seeing as it made sense for everyone else to get in first, and I pulled myself in, landing into my nightmare, on top of Theo.

"Whoa, sorry." I got up off of him and sat in the seat next to him. "Hi." I smiled. It was one of the first words I directly said to him in two months, and all I could think of was hi? Even Four looked at me and shook his head.

"So, Theo, when was your first time?" Zeke looked across the car.

"Well, um, let's see, it was probably during initiation. Four took me, but he never actually got on the train, just loaded me up with a bunch of Dauntless born, so I made friends."

"There he is, Four, no stranger to fear, accepting it in his wake. All except heights."

"Well, three others." Christina added next to him.

"We're here." Tobias said, ignoring them.

We all got off the train and went into the Hancock building. I remembered Theo telling me about it, how he wanted to come up here one day at sunrise with me. I looked at him and made eye contact. It was strange, looking into the brown eyes, since my time had been occupied with blue. His were much prettier, more mysterious. I stared until I realized that Christina was pushing me into the elevator. That seemed to snap him out of it and he fell in with the group as well.

We rode up to the top floor, the three digit button staring me into the face. There was only quiet, with someone occasionally clearing their throat. I saw Tobias' jaw clench uncomfortably and Christina put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. I was okay with heights, and saw that Christina was there to help him, so I didn't bother to help. I had not, however, realized how uncomfortable he was in small spaces. I forgot about that one. That made me step to the side a little bit to give him room, only to end up shoulder to shoulder with Theo. Oh how Fate played it out. He looked down with me with a small smile and I smiled back, starting to laugh. I didn't know why I was laughing, probably from the tense excitement to come, but soon that got him laughing, which got Zeke and Shauna started, and Isaac, and eventually even Four. By the time the door opened to reveal a ladder to a hole in the roof, we were all giggling a little bit for no reason, making us laugh even more.

Zeke was the first one up, and he helped Shauna as he held the ladder, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. Then it was Isaac, then Christina, Four, Theo, and me. As soon as I got to the top, my first instinct was to peer over the edge. To do so would frighten Tobias, who was in the middle, a safe distance away with Christina, but I wanted to see. I took Theo's hand instinctively-my first mistake-and went over with him to look at the lights in the city-my second mistake. My third mistake was pointing out the bar near Erudite headquarters that we had one of our first dates on. My final mistake was using him to brace the wind.

"We're at the top of a hundred floor building, and your first instinct is to look over the edge?" he said to me above the wind.

"We're at the top of a hundred floor building, and your first instinct isn't?" I shouted back.

"True shit." he laughed and held my shoulders steady. What was that, the fifth mistake, letting him? How many more until he figured out how fast my heart was beating, and not out of fear?

"Come on you two, let's go!" Zeke shouted, hooking Shauna up to the device. It was a sling that she entered in head first on her stomach, and he let her go. Faintly in the distance I saw a group of people standing at the bottom, other members, to help break her fall. After about a minute or so, we heard the cheers, and he strapped the next person in, Isaac. He was daring and went in feet first. Then Christina went. Then Theo went. After Theo was caught by the members, it was me, Tobias, and Zeke left on the roof. I was next.

"You can totally do this. Get in head first, okay?" I looked back at Tobias, who gave me a thumbs up. He better had been going after this. My heart sped up even faster as I got into the sling, my head past the building. "Ready?" I nodded. "Go!"

He pushed me off and I was flying. I was actually flying, airborne in the embrace of the wind. The sling held my body, but I was free enough to wriggle my arms out and hold them to the side, catching the wind in my hands as they cupped around the air. I imagined Tris doing this, as Tobias said she had. I imagined him doing it as well. I could understand his fear, but not enough to hate it at all. This was the most freeing thing I had felt since before the Games. I felt amazing, and it was sad to think that after such an exhilarating joyride, I had to stop.

There was a big painted target about ten feet in front of me when I stopped, purely for show, I hoped. Knowing the Dauntless like I did, I wasn't so sure who had the gall to run into it. I looked down from where I was at rest, and people were lining up in a huge blob of hands and arms, ready to catch me. Four central people were there under me, the ones I trusted to be there and not let me fall. I squirmed out of the holds and fell twenty feet to the ground, feeling hands engulf me and lower me to my feet. They all cheered and waited for Tobias to come down. Theo turned to me and grabbed my arm, and I realized he was making sure that Tobias had someone to catch him. Christina and Isaac also came to grab, even though he still had about thirty seconds to go. We heard the shouting as he came blundering down and stopped, again, ten feet from the target. His breaths were heavy and his face was flushed, but he looked at me and gave me a huge smile.

"Still afraid, Four? Or can we finally change your name to Three?"

"Petrified." he was released from the holds and fell into our grips, giving me a gigantic hug after being lowered. "Never doing that again." he said to me.

After Zeke was lowered to the ground, we had all gone back for drinks at the bar. It was only about eleven thirty, and I didn't have to get up for work until about nine. Zeke and Four sat at one table, but Christina and Shauna went to Candor. They seemed to be good friends, more than her and Four. I didn't know why they didn't want to come back to Dauntless, but then I remembered that Christina could never live here with her memories and Shauna, with her legs, was probably not looking forward to the paths.

As the two of them sat together, I was with Isaac and Theo. We all ordered a different dish and I was the only one ordering a mixed drink, again. Maybe it was the ziplining, but I wasn't feeling as panicked. Four would have attributed that to Theo, and maybe it was. But all I knew then was it was a good feeling.

"So, Wren," Theo started an actual conversation. "Afraid of heights yet?"

"Considering I've jumped off of two rooftops now and gone ziplining, I would say heights and I have an amicable relationship." I smiled. Maybe this would be easier than I thought. "What about yourself?"

He took a drink. "I like to think that heights are just another thing we have to deal with, I don't prefer them, but when a girl you like takes your hand and pulls you to the side to look at things with her, you don't normally object." Well, now that that was out in the open, how about my heart stops racing? Every time he spoke, the fluidity of his voice worked itself through my veins, spiking it more than the alcohol. He was just so wholesome in everything he did.

"I'm going to see if Four is paying for the check or not." Isaac said to leave us alone. He seemed almost as surprised as I was.

"Have fun." he said back, not taking his eyes off me. "Did you have fun?" He asked.

"I had such a blast. Thanks for catching me."

"It was my pleasure. Sorry about the hand on your ass, I had absolutely no intention of putting it there."

"Oh that was you!" I laughed, and he joined. Were we actually flirting? We skipped this stage the first time. "I thought that was Isaac at first. I would rather it be you, so I'm glad it was." Did I really just say that?

He chuckled and took another sip. "How have you been lately? I only ever see you at meals. And you don't come to a lot of them. How much do you eat?" he was a bit concerned, but played it off.

"I mean, I do eat, and I've been well." Lie. "Work's been going good, Four and Isaac are teaching me the ropes. You should come back, Four wants to keep an eye on Peter."

"He hasn't been too much of a problem. He was sorry to hear about...us...but he's been quiet lately."

"Good. You should still come back. I'm still waiting for all those things and Dauntless secrets you were going to teach me." I leaned over the table. He reciprocated my move.

"Did you hear about Cali's wedding?"

"Yeah, she told me a few days ago. We're not really in contact anymore."

"Wait, so you weren't invited?"

"No, not formally, were you?"

"Yeah, Adam and I both were. I wonder why you weren't? Well, there was a plus one on the invitation. Maybe she assumes you'll be the plus one."

"Didn't Four get one?"

"Yeah, surprisingly he did. I think it's because Jada told her that he's a leader now. And as if I would take him to a wedding, that would be almost sacrilegious of my mental shrine to Tris."

"Oh, so you two really are just friends?"

"Did you think any different?"

"I just saw that you had a key to his apartment and you two seemed to spend a lot more time together so I assumed-is that the necklace I gave you?" He saw the glint beneath my jacket.

"Yeah, I never take it off."

"Wren, you don't need to wear it, we've broken up, remember?"

"Yeah," my heart sank at him mentioning our relationship. "But I want to. It's beautiful. And about that, Theo, I was thinking-"

"Can we not do this here, at a bar?" his eyebrows furrowed. "Let's go back to my room. We can talk there."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Come with me." he grabbed my hand, told Four we were leaving, and went back to a room that was almost foreign to me.

* * *

**_AN: Yes, yes, this is one of those purposefully messing up times. See, I had originally written the draft of this before the FOUR series came out. So I had to guess at his fear of heights. But then I read it, and ultimately didn't feel like changing it because of the plot, and it was funny. So, I'm keeping it this way. But I do know what I'm doing, promise. Kind of...anyway. Hope you enjoyed!_**


	3. Chapter 3

When Districts Collide

Chapter 3: Wren

We walked into his room and I immediately stopped. I shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be bringing me in here. There was no reason to stay. I felt the panic coming back too quickly all of a sudden, and had to stop and lean against the wall. I hadn't had an attack for about thirteen days now, but it was all of a sudden coming on. I felt like I couldn't breathe and my world was slowly becoming less and less real. Theo turned around and saw me, and tried to come over to help, grabbing my arm as I had a hand on the door.

"No," I gasped, in obvious pain. Nothing hurt, but there was always some sort of thing I was over thinking and that caused me phantom pain.

"Please, I can help you." his eyes were wide with concern and I wanted him to help, but I couldn't let him. He never saw me weak. Tobias was the one who always saw me weak. I had to go to him. He was like a safety net.

"I have to go. I'm sorry." I rushed out of the room and went into Four's, sitting on his bed with my head in my knees. I don't know how it came on, I didn't think there was any kind of precursor, but it just happened. I was in the midst of letting out a sob, which, although it startled Tobias, made my presence known as he came to sit by me. His arm came protectively around me and shielded me from any sort of harm, although the only thing that could kill me was my mind.

"It didn't go so well?" he asked. I laughed, tears in my eyes. He thought Theo wouldn't take me back.

"Every time I look at him...I see what should have been. And every single time it shouldn't be me. He should be happy, Tobias."

"He would be with you." he rubbed up and down my back soothingly.

"I know. I can't imagine why." I sniffed, my voice thick and eyes red. "I can't let him see me weak. What if I repulse him by being weak? Am I weak?"

"You know, Tris used to ask me that all the time. And every single time, I told her she was tough as nails. She was. You want to know why?"

"Why?" I sounded like a curious child.

"Because she was able to be strong enough to let her guard down. She was able to open up and trust me enough to not say anything. I would never tell her wrong if she cried, even if there was no reason, because that meant she was tough enough to see me as someone she could see herself getting broken by. Have you ever seen Theo weak?"

"Yeah, I have a few times."

"And?"

"And I ignore it, because I know that we can get through it."

"So wouldn't you think he does the same? Isn't that trust?"

"Trust is hard, Tobias."

"If trust were easy, no one would get hurt." he said to me. "You can do this. See, you're not even panicking anymore. I want to catch you if you fall, I do, but I think Theo deserves more credit than I do, yeah?"

"Yeah. Should I go back? I mean...what will he think of me?" I wiped tears from my eyes.

"He won't think anything of you, if he's got a good head. And he does, he wouldn't be my friend if he didn't. Highly suspicious of people, remember?" He laughed and poured me tea, what he always did when I came over.

"Thanks, Tobias."

"It's not a problem. I just want to see you happy again. The Games destroyed you, they destroyed everyone. It's almost as bad as a fear landscape, except you can actually die."

"So wouldn't it surpass the fear landscape?"

"I don't know, I don't think I could stand to kill Tris one more time. I think I would rather be dead."

"I understand." I stood there and sipped my tea for a little bit, watching him watch me. His eyes were spectacularly blue, but nothing that I would ever find romantic to stare into. They were kind of intimidating, piercing into my soul. I set the cup down and went to the door to leave. "So you think he'll still talk to me, even after running away?"

"Absolutely. Good luck, tell me everything."

"Of course not, Four." I joked. "But tell me, how do I look?"

"Tough as nails." he smiled and closed the door after I walked out.

I stood in the middle of the hall for what seemed ages, but really only a few seconds. I flattened my hair, wiped my eyes again, took a deep breath, and knocked on his door. This was really new, I never had to knock before.

I heard footsteps coming closer and the door opened wide, letting me in. I walked in and stood near the chair opposite to where I assumed he was, where his book was.

"Is this how you occupy your time?"

"How do you spend yours?"

"Going into my fear landscape." I cringed. I could feel his eyes on me, and although I knew he was accepting, I didn't know what limit it was.

"Wren, I can't come back to being a leader after everything that happened."

I spun around. "Everything that happened with the Games or with us?"

"What do you want to be, is the question." he stood, his arms crossed. "I can't have you running to Tobias without questioning why you're here with me, what do you want from me?"

"I...I don't know. Tobias said-"

"See? He knows more about us than I do. It's not fair to me, or to you. I love you, and I want to be with you, but you're making it hard to be around you. I don't want to be played."

"I'm not trying to play you! I just have a hard time..." I stopped. I didn't want to say I had a hard time trusting him, but that was the only thing that came to mind. He looked at me, prompting me to go on. "I just don't want to be weak around you. I'm afraid you won't like me anymore." I looked down submissively and waited for him to calculate a response. Instead, he led me over to the couch and sat me down, touching my knee lightly.

"I don't care how you are around me. I want to know, when you said you still loved me, were you lying?"

"Of course not, but won't you think I'm a coward? What if I-"

"I will _never _think you're a coward, Wren. We've been through too much together to think that you're not brave. So nothing else matters to me. If you still want me, then I'm willing to take it slowly, slower than last time. I don't want you to be scared of me."

"I'm not scared of you." I straightened.

"Then what?" he sighed.

"I'm afraid of anyone taking us away from each other. I'm afraid of the Capitol and their Games. I'm afraid of everything, but not of you."

"I'll help you."

"Tobias said you were having nightmares too."

"I am. Horrible ones. Tobias told me you didn't want me to forgive you without a fight."

"I never said without a fight." I gave a smile. Seemed Tobias was playing the part of the mediator in spirit. "I just meant, I don't want you to treat me so innocently, like I could never do wrong, I guess. I'm rough now, and so are you. We're more calloused. I don't want romance, I want support. I want a bridge between us that no one can burn. Not Tobias, not Cali, and especially not ourselves. I just want something real, not happy. There aren't enough happy endings in the world to convince me that life is good."

"I can do that."

"So...friends?"

"Something like that." he smiled. "I'm still not coming back to leadership, you know that right?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just don't feel right there. The only reason I did it in the first place was because Isaac wanted me to. I like it in the control rooms, and I'll still keep an eye on Peter, for you and Bri and Tobias."

"What about Tobias going back to the control room?"

"Ah, please understand, like you, Four and I have a good relationship. He's going to stay in leadership. He likes you, you see."

"What do you mean, he _likes_ me?" I asked, almost disgusted.

"He thinks you're brave, and cocky, and stupid. He thinks you're going to do something reckless like Tris and he wants to save the day like he couldn't last time. He wants redemption."

"Is that the only reason he's been friends with me?"

"Oh no, of course not. That's just one of the perks of being you, you appeal to everyone, whether romantically, like me, or friendly, like Tobias. Consider yourself lucky, victor. Not everyone can be that loved."

"Oh I think I have a few enemies."

"They're all dead."

"But their factions hate me."

"So what?"

"I don't know. Just a thought. Do you have anything to drink?"

"Yeah, what are you looking for?"

"Anything good."

He pulled out a bottle of brandy and set it on the table in front of us. I tilted the bottle up and felt the warmth sliding down my throat, soothing my passing panic. He took the bottle once I was done and took a couple gulps of the light brown liquid, and set it on the table for later.

"I'm getting tired. Mind if I stay here?" my inhibitions were slowly leaving my mind, and I couldn't really get up. Out of all the different alcohols, Brandy was the only one to make me feel like the room was spinning.

"Thought you would never ask." he took to the bed and invited me in it. I gladly accepted his offer and took off my jacket and my shoes, climbing in and turning off the lights, not exactly sure what was going to happen next.


	4. Chapter 4

When Districts Collide

Chapter 4: Wren

I woke up the next morning in a bed unfamiliar to my own. Not surprising, since I did spend a lot of time with Four. But this was a stranger bed, with a man lying next to me. A man with such features that made him look so young when he slept. I hadn't grasped at the toll the Games took on us, on our aging, until looking at his face now. He looked calmer, happy even, and as the sun poured in from the window, it highlighted his cheekbones and made his brown-black hair shine. I wished he would open his eyes, if only for a second, so I could catch a glimpse of the chocolate brown his eyes held. I wondered if he thought the same of me when I slept.

I saw his eyelids flutter and one of them opened, looking at me. His side rose once in a great motion, and fell slowly, deflating through his nose, so that I felt his breath on my face.

"I wish you would come closer." he whispered to me.

"Did anything...happen last night?" I wasn't too sure myself. I didn't feel like I blacked out, but I knew that that didn't mean anything at all when it came to me being buzzed.

"No." his mouth sealed into a line.

"Alright, good, I guess."

"Wren, we never said what we were?" he stretched his arms, slightly grazing my hip with his finger tips.

"I don't know. I guess for right now we could just see where anything leads."

"So still friends? We can start from the beginning. I'll wait. For you, I'll wait."

"Thank you." I started getting up, but he pulled me back down until our noses almost touched.

"I'll try not to be so romantic, but around you, it's hard not to be, how am I going to impress you now?"

"Oh your devilishly good looks and charm will do nicely." I smirked and went to the bathroom to shower. I assumed some of my clothes were still here so I didn't bother going back to my room. Tobias said he would meet me in front of his room at nine to head down to the Pit, and it was eight thirty now.

Getting into the shower, any shower, was never a problem for me. It was always getting out that was the problem. But I also found that I didn't feel awful like I normally did in the mornings. I didn't feel like there was a huge stone in my stomach, and I could actually walk without feeling dizzy. Four was right. Theo was what I needed. But we had to go slowly, though I wish we didn't. I just couldn't handle so much at a time right now. I wasn't sure if that made me less Dauntless, but I had just won the Hunger Games. If I wasn't being Dauntless enough for anyone, they would have to deal with it.

When I finally got out, I had about ten minutes to get dressed and ready. I ended up putting my hair in a bun, something I rarely did, and put on a short skirt and a black long sleeved shirt. I stepped out of the bathroom and found him sitting on the bed, waiting for me.

"I don't have to go until ten. So have fun with your early job." he boasted jokingly.

"Thanks, thanks so much for your encouragement. Have fun lying around for another thirty minutes." I smiled. He looked at me with an intense stare, looking me over to make sure nothing was really wrong. There wasn't. For the first time in a while I finally felt normal.

"No panic?"

"Nothing yet."

"Not even a little?"

"The anxiety is normal, I just deal with it." I shrugged and looked around. "No nightmares either, which is a first."

"Yeah, same here. Maybe we should have slept with each other a long time ago." we chuckled and I stood, rolling on the balls of my feet. There was too much history to be just friends, but that was the only thing I could think of until things got relatively normal. That might take a while.

He got up and wrapped his arms around me, not saying anything for a little while. I was a bit stiff in his arms at first, but gradually loosened up and wrapped my arms around his waist. I sighed against him, happy to be back in his arms. It had been too long.

"Have a good day at work. I'll see you soon." and I left to meet Tobias.

When I went out of the room, the hallway suddenly seemed cold. I still didn't feel too awful, like I could still stomach something, but that sense of comfort went away as soon as he was gone. I was also feeling strange with Tobias waiting for me to do something reckless. As long as he wasn't betraying Tris, I still wanted us close, but if he was going to try to win me over like Tris, that wouldn't work out so well. He was one of my best friends because he had such a fierce loyalty to her, not because he had a loyalty to me.

"Morning, Wren." The voice came from behind me and I spun around to see Tobias smiling. I smiled back and we started walking to the Pit. "How did everything go last night?"

"We've decided to take it easy, just friends."

"So after everything, you're not getting back together?" his face fell a bit.

"For now. When we feel that it's right to, we're going to escalate the situation."

"Is he not coming back to leadership then?"

"He said he talked to you about that."

"He did," he seemed almost worried. "I just wanted to make sure he told you instead of having it be me the bearer of bad news. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I am. And as long as he keeps an eye on Peter, things will be fine."

"Right." We walked to the table together and everyone said hello. Mels and Adam seemed sort of secluded at the end, but they were still part of the group. Really, it was two groups. Me, Isaac, Theo, Tobias, Bri and Em, and the other group held Mels, Adam, Payton, Erin and Nate. We were still all integrated at the same table, but we just tended to stick by certain people. I sat in my usual seat in between Isaac and Tobias, and grabbed more food than I usually did, which rose some questions from Isaac.

"You're feeling better today?"  
"I am. This food still has a better taste than the Capitol, too. It's...warmer. But not like hotter or anything, just...warm. It doesn't feel artificial, like the Capitol food. Everything is a show there. Here, food is made for energy and eating." I grabbed some eggs in front of me and ate as the rest of them talked. Today was the day before school started, meaning the students that still went would be getting their schedules, meaning we had to get them from Erudite. I had never been to Erudite, nor had I planned to, but as a leader now, I had to. But only for a few minutes, I hoped.

Bri was discussing her job as a guard by the gate. She worked an eight hour shift while the rest of us worked a ten hour shift, working until seven instead of five. Being a leader never really ended, but we were only on the clock for our scheduled time. We also got paid more, so it added up. Her job was to make sure no trespassers from other cities came in the gates without a permit, but Tobias said the gate work wasn't always like that. He said they used to be protection for things outside the gate.

"What _is _outside the gate? You never do talk about that." I asked.

"Nothing now, nothing important. They've shut down. It's just an old abandoned airport now." he shoved more food in his mouth, avoiding the subject. I don't think he knew that I didn't know what an airport was, except for reading about it in books. I had never been to one.

After breakfast, we said goodbye and hopped the train, waiting for thirty minutes until we got by the Hub, and jumped off. We were only ten minutes walking distance from Erudite now. As a leader, we were supposed to take care of the faction, making sure that everyone was safe. This meant patrols, staying in contact with other leaders, checking up on any jobs, and helping with people who voiced their concerns. Just as well, being the police faction of the city, we were supposed to check up on everyone, making sure the entire city was safe and there were no concerns. We were more ambassadors than leaders, but I liked it. It gave me something to do. We were also responsible for training the initiates, or, two of us were, and the other one was still a leader. Tobias and I would be training this year, that was already decided.

As Tobias and Isaac talked, I kept my thoughts to myself. I wasn't too concerned with their conversation, which was about Capitol tourist marks. I wouldn't know. I had only been there to die. We walked on, loudly, to Erudite, which was way too sophisticated for my taste. I had almost turned my nose up at it.

"How do you think?" Issac asked. He knew it was my first time there.

"I don't like it." I automatically said.

"No, it's not too Dauntless, is it?" Tobias had been here before, he knew his way around.

We went to the front desk, and were given instant recognition. Tobias and I were, at least. People cloaked in blue from head to toe looked at me and nodded, almost bowed, in respect. They were a quiet, studious bunch. I sneered at them when they looked at me. I didn't need attention, especially from a bunch of Noses.

After Tobias told them what we were here for, they led us to a glass elevator on the side, pressed the third floor button, and we went up. It was sort of strange, riding in an elevator, seeing as the only time we ever did was the ziplining elevator. This one was smoother and we were there in about ten seconds. When the doors opened, we were escorted into a computer room with secure files on it. They went to the files for the Dauntless and opened up the class schedules. I noticed a change on the classes, that they were learning about genetics now, but only on a few student's schedules.

"We added the class so that people could see where their own factions fit into the scale of psychology. It's not so much a gene study class as much as it is a psychological study class. Most students who're going to be taking this are Erudite, but I guess some of yours are as well, it seems." he said while the papers were printing. "Erudite wanted their knowledge to come out to the world, so we're imprinting it in the school systems first." it was almost like he was stating a fact. A fat that was utterly wrong to everyone else but the Erudite. I looked at Tobias and he looked back at me, our looks the same from what I saw on his face.

I went to the other side of the room to grab the papers, but out the window I saw a glass ceiling on the other side, that led into a test room with a fear landscape. What could the Erudite need with a fear landscape? That wasn't Erudite technology, that was purely Dauntless. The only thing that came from the Noses was the serum we used. I stared for a little while until the blue cloaked man ushered me away.

"We're trying to improve the simulations, so that it's more efficient."

"It already is." I stated.

"Well, there are a few bugs. We're trying to make it so that there's more than one way to face fears."

"Shouldn't that be a Dauntless job?" There were already a couple ways to get through a landscape.

"One of your leaders, Peter, told us to start working on it." Peter. That explained it. He was up to something and it didn't seem like it was going to be more efficient.

I spun around with the papers and darted out of the room. Tobias and Isaac followed, not really catching up to my thought process. I forgot, Tobias didn't really have an Erudite frame of mind and Isaac wasn't Divergent at all. We walked out of the headquarters and to Millennium Park. I took a seat under the great metal bean statue, where no one else would think to find us. They sat next to me, one on either side.

"Did you see what they were doing?" Isaac asked me.

"They were testing other Erudite on a fear landscape. Except...they hadn't hooked wires to anyone with a serum. So what were they doing and how were they doing it?"

"Wait, there weren't any wires?" Tobias asked.

"None. It was a free range landscape."

"Like the one in Dauntless?" Isaac asked.

"No. Different. Even the free range still needs a computer to run. This didn't need anything. The control panel must be in a different room."

"Why would they want to do that?"

"To make it more efficient." I said facetiously.

"Peter has something to do with it." Tobias reiterated.

"Yeah. But what, why, and when?"

"No how?" Isaac tried to find light in the situation. Tobias nudged him in the ribs.

"I don't really give a damn how they're doing it until I find out the purpose."

"They're also making a psychology class. I have a feeling that something big is going to happen."

"Yeah but you see, Theo said Peter wasn't doing anything, and Bri hasn't found anything on his computers. He's clean. He's giving the risk to Erudite so he won't get in trouble. So we'll attack them instead. He's not going to do anything now. It'll be later, after school ends. They'll want informed students, and Erudite wants more followers, that's why they're introducing the class." I concluded.

"He can't be doing this alone."

"He's not, he's got the Erudite." Isaac told Tobias as I thought it through.

"He knows a simulation on the factions won't work, we've been through it before. And he knows we're Divergent." Four's hand gestures were almost frantic now.

"Maybe it's not about factions anymore?" Isaac suggested.

"Then what? Peter may be cruel, but he doesn't want to take over the world." Tobias bickered back.

"No, but I know someone who does. Theo talked to him once. He said he knew you." I looked at Tobias.

"Xavier?"

"The head Gamemaker doesn't like us. We're victors. I killed Capitol kids. I have enemies, Tobias. He doesn't want us dead, he wants us tortured. I don't know how they're getting the simulations done, but it could be another memory serum in the making, but not for the factions. No, he's going for the whole country."


	5. Chapter 5

When Districts Collide

Chapter 5: Wren

Peter and Xavier were up to something. I knew it, Tobias knew it, and Isaac was following along. I needed to know about the serum, and the only way I could do that was behind my friends' backs. Theo knew nothing, which was probably better for him not to. Tobias and I had to keep this from him. Isaac too, but he wasn't too concerned yet, not until Peter made an actual move.

"I didn't think he would be like this. Why?"

"Why does he want the Divergents dead again or why is he betraying you?"

"Why everything? He _knows_ what Tris and I stood for. He knows it." Tobias said in his room one night after the revelation while we were discussing. I had just been with Theo for the evening, and came to Tobias' room to crash, or so he thought. I hadn't seen my apartment for a good three days now. I wondered if I still could get in.

"Because, he picks the winning side. Right now, he doesn't see the city as any good. They're just doing the same old thing. But the Capitol, look at the advancement. Look at Xavier, who's head Gamemaker. He holds lives in his hands every year, every day. Tell me, what was Xavier like in training?"

"He was ruthless, but not even close to Eric," he was referring to his fellow initiate, "I thought that he took the Capitol job to get away from it all, not for power."

"Well, he sucked Peter into the propaganda, and you know how strong his morals are."

"What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know." I paced the room. That was a lie. I knew what I had to do, I had to go to the airport Tobias talked about and scout it out. There had to be something there, some sort of connection to the Allegiant. They couldn't have just taken it all with them after the War, Tobias said none of it was destroyed, only shut down. I had to go. I had to go tonight. And he couldn't know.

"Can't we just arrest Peter?" He asked, pulling me away from my train of thought.

"Not without a formal charge. What are we going to charge him with? 'I'm not sure if you're actually working against the Dauntless but we're going to make sure that doesn't happen even if it's a false charge?'"

"A bit lengthy."

"You get my point." I scowled.

He plopped himself on the bed, sighing out with frustration, his hands over his face. He was giving up. At least for now. I knew that tomorrow, he would be riled up again, but I wouldn't be there to listen. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do yet, but I knew I needed to find something.

"Are you going to stay here tonight? I can understand if you don't want Theo to find out anything."

"No, I think I'm going to head back to his place." I couldn't stay with Tobias, he couldn't know what I was up to.

He looked at me funny, normally I would never pass up an opportunity to spend a night with him and liquor in his room, joking and telling stories all night, but I couldn't. Not this time. Maybe if I came back, unless I went on to discover more.

"Are you sure?"

"Nothing happened the last time, I'll be fine over there."

"I have no doubt, but you two aren't even together." He seemed to be getting jealous.

"Well, perfect way to, isn't it?"

His eyes narrowed at me. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing, there's nothing you don't already know!" I defended myself. "I'm an open book for you, Tobias. Theo just helps with..." I didn't feel like saying the word out loud, since I had been feeling normal for the past few days.

"Right, I almost forgot." his face softened, but in a sad way. He knew I was lying, he knew he helped too. "Have fun, Wren. See you tomorrow. I'll probably be up all night if you do want to come back."

"See you in the morning." I wouldn't.

I went into my apartment to get a change of clothes and walked quickly back out, not wanting to disturb Payton and Erin, who were sitting curled up with each other on the couch reading. I always tried to get out of there as quickly as possible, lest I see anything worse, like Adam and Mels. They were my friends, but the last thing I needed to see was something akin to what he and Caroline used to be.

There were now three keys on the locket chain I had, now that I had added back Theo's. I went to the door, and tried the doorknob to see if it was open, and it wasn't. Not peculiar at this time of night, since it was around eleven thirty, but still strange. I took the key and opened the door to Theo talking with Peter about something. Peter looked dismayed and Theo looked angry. Had he found out about Peter's scheme?

"You have no right going into Erudite headquarters and changing school programs." I heard him say. No one had heard me come in, so I stayed by the bathroom door so they couldn't see me.

"I did what I had to, the children need to learn about what happened to the Divergents." Total lie. Peter could never be Candor, although he came from them.

"They already know about it from Faction History. There was no need to put a psychology class among the sixteen year old students." So he was thinking to put the upper level students in the psychology class? To help inform them of their decision, I supposed would be his excuse.

"I want to inform them of what they are, why they need to stay safe." Close enough.

"Safe? They're still out there, factionless! We're lucky that they get decent city jobs."

"They're there by choice. They could have easily been like you, or Wren-"

"Don't bring my girlfriend into this."

"She's not your girlfriend, Theo. Don't defend her." he snapped back.

I could here him stand up. "I don't care what she is or isn't. I'm going to defend our kind. You still had no right to go and publicise anything through an Erudite class schedule. One more slip like this and I may have to be forced to arrest you on Tobias' command."

"I'll leave you to it, then." he stormed out past me and slammed the door. I could hear his frustrated shouts through the wall into the hallway.

I decided to make my presence known by closing the bathroom door as I would if I had come in. Theo looked over to see me, having no idea that I just listened in on his reprimand. He smiled at me, all the worry immediately draining from his face.

"Hi, Wren. I didn't think you would be back so I locked the door. Well, I supposed Peter unlocked it. He seemed to be moody tonight." he lied to me, so he wouldn't worry me. Too late, I was already keeping secrets from him. I would let him have it though, because I was also keeping this from him.

"Yeah he seemed it. What was that about?" I decided to push my luck.

"Oh, nothing really, he was just mad that I got a promotion in the control center and he didn't." Lie number two coming from him.

"Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I was wondering if I could spend the night here? Tobias is kind of angry at me too."

"Why so?"

"Thinks I'm spending too much time with you." That was a lie. Tobias would never get angry over that.

"Is he jealous? I didn't think he..."

"I think he's just mad that you're curing my panic more than he is. So I told him I was going to come over here tonight."

"Of course, do you want to share the bed or..."

"I'll take the couch, if that's fine. It's just kind of nice to be here where everything is calm."

"Okay," he frowned a bit. I was acting a bit out of place. I needed to lie better. I hadn't lied to anyone for a while.

We both sat on the couch, neither one of us tired in the least, and laid together, his arms wrapped around me. There was nothing else but that, in the silence of the night. I closed my eyes and leaned further against him, sighing out. I was not content, I was upset with myself. These were my friends, they deserved to know what I was doing. But they couldn't. It was up to me alone to find out what was going on, because I was the only one here Divergent with an Erudite aptitude. Theo had his own problems, so I didn't want him to help me.

"I think I want to sleep, is that okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Goodnight." he got up and went to his own bed, leaving me to rest on the couch. I would wait until he was asleep to leave.

It was around two thirty when he finally slowed his breathing, signaling that he was asleep. I moved swiftly and quietly, gathering my clothes and my small bag, taking them with me. I grabbed a bottle of liquor he had and some food, just in case it was longer than a day or two. I didn't think it would be, Tobias had said before it wasn't that far of a drive, so it shouldn't have been too far of a walk either.

When I went outside and shut the door, I saw a light flooding out from Tobias' room. He wasn't kidding, he was planning on staying up all night. I moved past his room and into the dark hallway, finding my way to the glass doors signifying my release. I started running as soon as I got down the stairs and saw the train already approaching. I sped up, sprinting and jumping onto the last car as it passed by. I sat against the wall, breathing heavily as I looked for the Amity compound to jump off at. I needed to climb the gates where there were no Dauntless guards, and then I would be out of the city.

As I approached the gardens that Adam and I walked on the first day, I saw the gates behind it leading out. It was dark, and clouds were reigning in, signaling rain in the next couple days. Hopefully I would get there before it did.

The garden looked fuller than it did a few months ago, but maybe that was because it was dark. It at least hid me as I walked through, careful where I stepped. Dauntless did teach me that, at least, how to walk in the dark without killing myself. I was surprised at all the things I learned being put to good use. There was one thing I forgot, though. I forgot my gun. I had my belt of knives with me in my bag, and I had put it on in the train, but my gun, the prized possession of most Dauntless, was sitting in Tobias' room on his couch. He would find it, and come looking for me in Theo's room, only to find that I was not there. I shook the thought from my head and kept going, nearing the gates. I had not been discovered, and this section didn't house any guards, so I was safe.

I started to put one foot in the chain link when I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me. I stopped and crouched down, my knife ready. The noise stopped and the footsteps turned around after a few seconds, and I resumed my climb once again. Once I was at the top, I put one foot over the ledge and scaled down the other side. I hadn't bothered to look back in fear that I would chicken out and make my life harder, but when I got to the bottom and hopped off, I turned around to see the gardens and Amity compound facing me. I made it to the other side. I was in the Amity farms, which meant another half a mile and I would be out of the city for good. I took the liquor out of my bag and drank to the freedom. The only thing now was finding the damn airport, since Tobias never gave me coordinates.

I headed in a straight line past the edge of the farms, but still didn't see anything. I was probably half a mile from the gates, and when I turned around, I could still see the lights in the city. I could barely see the gates themselves, but I did catch enough of a shadow to see a figure walking towards them, disrupting the lights. Then I ran.

I couldn't be caught, not now. This was the worst time to get caught. The figure started climbing over the fence and when I heard the chain links after he jumped, there was shouting. I couldn't discern the voice to be a guard I knew, but I kept running, and although he was keeping good pace with me, I was still half a mile out farther than he was, meaning he wouldn't catch me if I veered off, so I did. I made a hard left and ducked, hoping he wouldn't find me. Maybe I wouldn't have been so scared if I knew who it was, but this was no time for taking chances.

My heart pounded as I kept listening for his footsteps to pass by me, but I didn't hear anything for five minutes. After seven, I started to hear the faint pound of jogging against the ground, but the grass should have been tall enough to conceal me. The jogging slowed, which made me even more frightened, and I saw the outline of the figure fifteen feet away from me, breathing heavily. He looked around, kept walking, and didn't see me. I sighed out heavily after I thought he was gone, and stood up. Then I heard the trigger click.

"Hello, Wren." The voice said behind me.

"Four." I gasped quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**_AN: Hey guys! So now I'm all graduated and on summer break, and I have been procrastinating with the writing, and it's been a struggle to continue this. Too much writers block coupled with laziness does not do wonders for the fanfic. But now, as I sit down at the computer for the night, I will try and try to continue writing! I'd like to take a moment to recognize all of my reviewers, because your praises have been so encouraging and your criticism has been well received. I'll try my best to take whatever you review and put it into the story, so I welcome more and more, no matter what it is! Thank you so so much for your support through this, and I promise to have more written soon:) Enjoy~_**

* * *

When Districts Collide

Chapter 6: Tobias

After she left my apartment, I couldn't help feeling that there was something she wasn't telling me. She was about to do something big, and it was because of Peter. I think if she didn't see what was happening at Erudite, she would have been fine. But because she was brave, almost too brave, she would have to find out what happened. I always thought that selflessness was equivalent to bravery, but it seemed in her case, curiosity was as well.

Minutes later I heard a voice storming down the hall that I recognised as Peter. That was suspicious, even more so than Wren leaving me. I was going to stay up all night anyway, but now I had to, I wanted to see what was about to happen. All I knew is that I would have to wait, but waiting was nothing when it came to curiosity.

I sat on the couch and read until about midnight, when I put it down. I was kind of tired, but I wasn't about to fall asleep, so I went to make tea. When I got a cup from the side, I saw the gun lying there. Not my gun. Mine was in my holster, as it always was, and the only other person who was here was Wren. Why would she leave her gun here? My only answer was because she had knives, which she only took out when she was leaving. So she was leaving the compound.

That conclusion made me listen even harder for her footsteps, because I was not about to miss where she was going. So when I finally heard her tiptoeing through the hallway, I grabbed her gun, my gun, and went out the door, making sure to let her have the lead.

She was through the doors by the time I had gotten to the bottom floor, and I could see her running to the trains. I thought that maybe she was going to Erudite, so I ran and caught up just as she got on. She hadn't seen or heard me, which was a good thing, but now she would get fifteen minutes more to move ahead.

As the next train came, I jumped the first car and waited until I could scout her figure. I looked over at the Amity gardens under the train to see plants out of whack. She was headed out of the city, not to Erudite. But surely by now she was past the gate. What was out there that she would want to find? Oh. My stomach sank as I knew the answer. She wanted to see where the simulations were coming from, the airport. I had to make sure to follow her now, before she got too lost. It was hard to find for someone who had never been.

I leaped off the train and followed her tracks through the gardens, and made more noise than she would have liked to hear, because by the time she was over the fence, she turned around to take a look at her surroundings and heard the noise that I had made. Luckily, she ignored it and went back to walking, so her figure became smaller and smaller as I tried to keep up with her. By the time I got to the fence, she was almost past the Amity farms. That didn't stop her from seeing me, as I saw her, small but darker than the black sky. As I climbed and jumped, she ran.

"Are you kidding me?" I had to sprint to even try to catch up, and she had half a mile on me. What she didn't know was that I saw her duck in the grass, so I knew her location. I slowed down, taking my time, now knowing where she was. I could hear the sound of my own heart beating, and I saw the black of her jacket peek through the grass. She probably assumed that the grass would be tall and thick enough to cover her. I tried that once, it wasn't.

My breaths came out strong, and I knew she could hear me, so I went on a little further, lulling her into a sense of safety, but I snuck behind her as I turned a sharp left, looping around where she was. As she stood up, I came closer. She wasn't in trouble, of course, but I was about to make a threat to her, she left me out of this plan of hers. I clicked the trigger into place and put it against the back of her neck.

"Hello, Wren."

"Four." she muttered., turning around and meeting my gun with one of her knives.

"Do you really think a knife is going to do something?" I laughed and shot the bullet to the side, a warning shot.

"No, but it will injure you at least. Why haven't you killed me, you seem to be in a sadistic mood." she lowered her weapon and I lowered mine. I didn't think that her first instinct was to think that I would kill her, but it didn't surprise me once she said it.

"I don't want to kill you. I'm upset at you, you never told me where you were going."

"I didn't feel the need to include you in my death wish."

"What death wish? Don't be reckless." I chided.

"You said that's an abandoned airport, there's gotta be something deadly there. And I don't want you to die with me."

"You didn't tell Theo either, did you?"

"Not at all."

"He doesn't need to be included." I nodded. We were still standing face to face, cautious of each other. "But you should have told me, at least. I can't trust you if you can't trust me."

"I do, but I really just wanted to do this alone."

"Okay. Then tell me where the airport is." I crossed my arms.

"Um..." she didn't know, obviously. "Fine, lead on."

I smiled at her. "Come on, let's go." I took her hand and we walked on. She may not have been my girlfriend, but she was my best friend, and that was worth something, however reckless she may be.

We walked for a while, I wasn't sure how long, until we got to the edge of the empty fringe. I was here once before, and it looked probably less desolate than it did now. There was no one, not one scavenger here. They had all moved on, some coming back to Chicago, others moving to different cities. The airport had a working plane for the first six months, but after that, they retired it to the Capitol, so they had control of all the air carriers.

"So are we near it?" she asked, sensing my familiarity with the region.

"Almost. This is the Fringe. It was..." I didn't really know how to describe it, this place was sort of like factionless factions. But she wouldn't understand, she hadn't interacted with the factionless like I had. "It was for the GD's. Genetically Damaged. They were basically out here, sort of like how the factionless lived. They had leaders and groups formed and everything. Extremely violent though, very loyal to their gangs."

"I thought we were the only place with factions."

"So did I. Seems like that was the best way to live, because before everything got rebuilt, the other cities were nearing war."

"Other cities?"

"This place was off of Capitol radar. They had other cities that were genetic experiments, but they discovered that the factions system was the best way of life, because the rest were being terminated."

"Is that why they wanted to do the memory serum?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I guess we'll never find out."

"No, I guess not." she agreed.

We walked through what was left of the Fringe, occasionally stopping so I could tell a story, or she could look at something. I was surprised that it only took about six hours to get here. Didn't feel like that long, compared to when we drove here with Amar. I wondered where he was. He had obviously left the airport, but I didn't know what city he was in, he had never told me. Maybe Zeke and Shauna knew. I would talk to them when we got back, shoot them a message. Maybe he was crucial to our cause. I actually didn't know what our cause was.

"What is it that you want to see?" I asked as we stepped into the colossal building before us.

"I want to see the simulations, what they were planning to do. Whatever labs they have, I want to get in. Do you think they're unlocked?"  
"Most definitely. The locks are all blown up. There were a few...raids...here." I walked through the halls, leading her around the residential side first. I knew exactly where I was going, and she followed, seeing as she had no where else to go. "This was our room. Well, my room, for a lot of the time. It wasn't a good period between us at that moment." I could still feel all the memories, every layer, every secret, every fear between us. There was too much space and too little. We were growing farther apart, but we were so close. We were a living, breathing contradiction. But then, she died. And half of that contradiction was gone, and nothing could replace it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tobias."

"Don't be." I shook my head. "I'm getting through it. Every day. Come on, lab time."

I wheeled around and ran through the halls to the other side. I always ran through these halls when I was here, and I was feeling good enough to do so again. She was sprinting to keep up with me since my strides were longer than hers. The first lab was where I found out I wasn't technically Divergent, so I figured it was a good place to start.

"So here's where they test for the GPs. I found out that I wasn't genetically pure, but Tris was."

"What kind of criteria do you have to meet?"

"You have to meet at least three factions. You do."

"So does Theo. But why is it still bad in Chicago?"

"Old habits die hard. We still believe it, because we need order in society. But at least they get better jobs than before, right?" Better than being killed at least. "Is there anything you want to see here?"

"Blood test equipment?" she asked me. I pulled some of the test tubes and turned the machines on.

"What do you want with these?"

"I want to test myself, and you, when I find the serum I'm looking for. See what it does." she sounded Erudite. I wasn't sure if I should be intrigued or scared. Both seemed like a good option.

"On to the next lab then?"

"Wherever you're willing to take me." she left the testing equipment behind and followed me onward.

I took her to the next simulation lab, where they held the memory serum betas. I wasn't too sure if I wanted to be back here with so many memories, so many past arguments boiling inside me. I hoped that during this, we wouldn't argue about the same things. Knowing who she was, we would.

"Do they have any inactive serum available?"

"Not that I know of." Inactive. Maybe she wasn't as dumb as I thought. Or as careless, I should say. Even if it was here, what good would it be to test inactive serum?

"Guess I'll have to use a live tube." she took a vial from storage and went over to one of the electron microscopes.

"How're you going to find out what's in it?"

"Transmitters, right? I'll just find them in the solution and do something Erudite with them."

"Do you have to do it now?" Maybe there was a way to come back. Well, there was, sneaking out. But this was a lengthy and serious experiment, and we couldn't miss too many days at the compound.

"No, why? Scared?" she smirked. "Tobias is afraid of getting in trouble."

"No," I was scared of Capitol people finding us. "But don't you think it would just make sense to do it in several small sittings instead of one large one?"

"Hm." she paused, like my idea was actually sensible. "I guess it makes more sense than missing five days of work. But can we just stay here for the day?" she pleaded with me. As long as we were safe, and she listened to my warnings and judgments, who was I to say no?

* * *

After a full day of being her lab assistant, and getting a vial of my blood, it was time to head home. The experiments could wait a few days anyway. I was extremely impressed with her thought process. It was brilliant, everything flowed well. I was constantly amazed by her, but I couldn't help feeling bad that it was me and not Theo helping her, being her assistant, so privileged to be saving the entire country, if it worked.

We packed what little we had and left through the Fringe again, this time getting past the desolate ruins and back to the open land within an hour. I wasn't too keen on hosting a conversation, seeing as we had been talking for the past seven or eight hours about labs and what we were planning to do. All we discussed was when we would come back. It would be about once a week, checking up on what we were seeing, until we finally got what we needed.

I think the best part about the whole experience was that it was completely _normal_. I was happy, and she wasn't panicking. We were both in our niche. It felt like two friends doing lab experiments. If only we were Erudite, it would have been completely ordinary. But we were not. We were something smarter. We were Divergent.


	7. Chapter 7

When Districts Collide

Chapter 7: Wren

How did I automatically just transform from Dauntless and brave, sneaking out of the compound, to Erudite? No one did that, at least, not without explanation. Tobias had told me that the ability to think wasn't exclusive to Erudite, and that had been his philosophy for his entire life. I believed that, but really, the ability to exit an adrenaline pushed mind to a logical thinking frame was near impossible instantaneously. Somehow, I did it, and we started experimenting.

First, I needed blood samples. That was the most important. After I finally coaxed Four into giving me some of his precious Divergent blood, I took some of mine and set the tubes aside. One vial would be control from each of us. The other would find out what transmitter the serum contained. Half a vial for the memory and one for the death.

"How will you notice the changes?"

"Shouldn't be too difficult if you know what you're looking for. Microchips connecting to the blood cells. I should be able to tell."

"We're not doing everything today, right?" He kept asking me that. I didn't think he liked this place.

"Well of course not, you said that yourself. It needs to set. Get me more memory serum, I want to take a look at that on its own. And we'll have to sneak some of the fear landscape serum from Dauntless, and the 'new improved' one from Erudite. To see the differences and the reaction with blood."

"Am I gonna have to give you more?" he groaned.

"Stop being such a pansy cake about a little bit of blood. Yes, you will."

"It's just tedious and an annoying process."

"I know. Get over it." I sped through my instructions, changing the subject, and he took notes.

"Should I write down more details for a complete procedure so you don't forget?"

"Nope. I've got it. We'll wait for results after a week and then we'll write those down, take pictures, whatever needs to be done. I don't need to be exact." I guess that was kind of Dauntless, any Erudite would cringe if I didn't have a step by step log written down.

"When are we going home? I don't want to be here too long. It's starting to get to me."

"About an hour, if you get me my serum." We had already been here for more than six hours messing up the pristine condition we found everything in.

Four went to another storage part of the lab and got me the liquid. It was clear in the vial, and it looked normal, like drinking water. I took if from him after I made sure to put gloves and a mask on. I wasn't an idiot, I didn't want to forget anything.

I took the tube to the microscope and dropped some on a glass plate. Under the scope, I knew exactly what to look for in the blood. Microchips. They would work themselves into the bloodstream and attack the hippocampus immediately, causing long term memories to be unable to be retrieved. I assumed the death serum would target the brain stem, controlling all the major functions of the body. Four taught me the technical term, but I knew what it would do.

"See anything?" he peered around, trying to look at the small screen as well. He looked bored, but sounded interested, even excited about what I was doing.

"Yeah. Take a look if you want." he looked at the screen on the scope as I stepped down.

"So, actual chips. I guess you were right. They attach to the cells and work their way up."

"Somehow I got it right!"

"Should have been an Erudite." he rolled his eyes at my comment.

"No way, Dauntless pride."

"You sure you used to be Abnegation?"

"Not anymore, no." I said, that time long gone.

He looked at me funny, his face sort of scrunched up. "Neither do I."

It was like the journey home went a lot quicker than the escape from Dauntless. Of course, we still had to wait for dark, so we couldn't leave the airport until then, but Tobias made sure the labs were off limits for me as I waited for dark. He thought I was having too much fun. I was.

We had toured around more of the place, and since the going home would take about five hours, we left around eight. The walk was filled with silence, but this time I actually had my gun, so I could protect myself without speaking to him or relying on him if I needed to. I hoped to God I wouldn't, but with the Capitol always lurking about, I could never be too sure.

"Every week." I answered the unspoken question.

"What?"

"Every week we go back. Only at night though, obviously. Anyone asks, and we tell them we were at the Amity compound for some reason. We'll always need to be back at morning.

"So what, we just leave right after dinner once a week?"

"We'll go to dismiss that guards to their dinner and take their place, being the leaders. Then we leave, and they'll come back thinking we had to go off somewhere on duty."

"You're too good at sneaking out."

"As I recall, someone said that the ability to think wasn't just for Noses. That includes the ability to escape." I one upped him. He sighed and kept walking.

When we got near the gate, it was about one thirty in the morning. Two guards were by the fence, but not where we climbed in. No one protected the Amity gardens, there was no need. Four took his gun and motioned me to climb the fence first. I got to the top and looked around, making sure there was nothing suspicious. As soon as my feet hit the ground, Tobias began his ascent. Luckily, all went smoothly for him.

"Easy." I nodded at him. "Right?"

"Right. Now to sneak onto the train."

We followed the paths through the gardens and ended up near the tracks. The train was just turning the corner as we came to the side and we jumped on, waiting for it to take us around. We would be passing by the Erudite facility.

"Why is it always the Erudite? Check the lights." I said as we approached city limits.

"Peter. He's always been a little like Eric, but more easily swayed. I guess the memory serum didn't affect him as much as I had hoped. Of course, I had been against it in the first place. All systems go corrupt eventually, it just takes the right person to set them off."

"You know a lot about the faction system, Four."

"Let's just say my mother helped me learn about it."

"Someday I want to hear this story. Four, the Traitor." I smirked.

"Heh, Four, the Traitor. That seems like a good title for it. Someday, I'll tell you this story. But not now. Now, we look."

The Erudite headquarters were on our right, and sure enough, the lights were on in their labs and people milled about, carrying trays and tubes and hooking electrical wires up, sending people in and out of a panic.

"You know," I shouted out the train, even though they couldn't hear me, "You really shouldn't have glass walls if you don't want people to know what you're doing."

"But of course, they're logical. They know best." Tobias tagged along with my remark.

That was the end of the conversation as we looked around for Dauntless, and we jumped in front of the stairs leading to the Pyre. We walked quickly and silently up the stairs and through the glass doors.

"One more thing, just in case. Wait here." We were in front of the control room. There was one person in there besides him, someone he knew, and they spoke a few words, nodded, shook hands, an walked out. He beckoned me to follow him.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Footage. Making sure there was 'nothing suspicious by the gates.' There wasn't, our cover isn't blown. We're clear."

"Good."

"So my room or Theo's?"

"I am _not _sneaking into his room at two in the morning. I'll take the couch." I had a room? Since when? I've just been staying in both of theirs.

We walked up to his room and I laid my gun on the table like I did every time I went in. I took my belt of knives off as well and laid it next to the gun, took off my shoes and jacket, and fell onto the couch.

"Long day, huh?"

"Exhausting." I sighed.

He stood for a minute before sitting on his bed. "You did good, Wren. You're doing good."

"Thanks, Tobias, for helping me." I shut my eyes as he turned out the lights.

"Anytime." he answered.


	8. Chapter 8

When Districts Collide

Chapter 8: Tobias

"Where were you two yesterday?" Theo asked me as I came down alone for breakfast. Wren wasn't up yet.

"Leadership duties. You know it well. We were out at Amity." I lied bitterly. He was jealous, though had he been in my place, there would have been nothing at the airport to make him feel that way.

"What could Amity possibly want with Dauntless matters?"

"They just wanted to make sure their farms were protected. From the Capitol." I replied tersely.

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"You never know with the Capitol. Xavier just might be watching the Victors."

"You really think he would be watching us? What does it have to do with Amity?"

"They're the farthest ones from the inner city. They see more than we do on the edge. I don't know if Xavier is watching anyone in particular, but he sure isn't like he used to be. He is not an honest man; he learned to lie, to slander others. How else would he be head Gamemaker? Might be a good one for them, but not a good one for us."

"So Amity was scared of the Capitol? Since when is Amity _scared_?" That was a good question. They took their serum in the bread, so they would be peaceable. I guess that didn't really equate to not being scared, though.

"Since they're not Dauntless enough to face their fears. They just get happy and high off of their bread." I said flatly. "I'm sorry if you don't believe me, but it's the truth. Ask Wren if you're still unsure." Playing that card was the only way to get him off me, but I felt bad for doing it. "She'll tell you the same thing I did."

"I believe you, Tobias. It just seemed strange that Amity would have a problem, out of everyone." He backed down, finally.

I clapped him on the shoulder and half smiled. "We've all got problems. I'm going to go eat. Have a good day at work."

"You too." he stepped around me and exited.

I sat down after grabbing a muffin and started listening in on conversations I might have wanted to join. It ended up being Mels and Adam, strangely enough. I didn't bother announcing my attention switch to them, instead just leaning over and finding out what they were arguing about.

"I just don't understand why they want Victors to go back to the Capitol. Or for that matter, go around and take fun tours of the cities, rubbing the win in their faces." Mels debated.

"Mels, this is the first time I actually won something."

"Don't give me that."

"Besides you," he flashed a grin. No wonder everyone else hated him. "I've never won anything important, or been special. So in four months, let me have some fun, okay?"

"Fine. But I don't agree with what the Capitol is doing. It doesn't bring us together, it creates envy and dismantles ties." Finally someone who agreed with us.

"They've done it for years. It's just a custom. Don't think too hard on it." I added in, making my presence known to them.

"I just don't think it's a good one. If we're all trying to keep peace, even Peter," she whispered to me across the table, "Then it's not a good idea, it never has been, to shove the Victors in the losers' faces."

"I'm with you. But do you think that a few people could argue that point to the Capitol? Especially since it's only our first win. We're still children to them. It would make us look ungrateful to them. Just be happy that Capitol kids participate too, they never used to, so I've always heard."

"They didn't?"

"Used to be full entertainment. Bets, gambling, parties."

She snorted. "What's changed?"

"Now they have their own kids to take care of. Another reason why they don't like us. Three of our tributes came back, and none of theirs made it. How weird is that?"

"But that's because they were all from Dauntless."

"The Capitol kids are trained to fight too. What does that tell you about the programs?"

"Dauntless is better." She concluded.

"And how horrible, that three kids from a 'child' district have a better program than one of the Capitol."

"I see."

"I'm going to go. Think about it. But don't do anything brash without my permission." I smiled and left them back to bickering, going to the head office.

It used to be Max's office, when he was here. Now, all the leaders share it. But it had a video monitor that I needed to contact Jada. I hadn't spoken to him for a while. Right now, we had a lot going on, and not too many people on the inside. Luckily, he was with me, so I could get what I needed from Capitol information. He was huge now that his tributes won. Everyone was wearing Dauntless colours, and the Capitol, although still bright, never looked so dark.

"Jada." the video monitor showed the connection.

"Tobias. How are the factions?"

"How is the Capitol?"

"Not too well, I suppose, but better than ever. Although the civilians cannot wait for the tour, the head Gamemaker seems to be contacting the president more often for some reason."

"How do you know this?"

"See, I went in to do a fitting for Plutarch. But he canceled at the last minute, when I showed up. So he had me wait in the parlor, right outside the meeting room, to reschedule. Well, I heard three voices. One being his. Another being Xavier's. And a third one. I'm not sure who, I had never heard it before."

"Did you catch what his name was?"

"No, but I caught what he looked like. Black hair, innocent looking, and wearing all black-"

"Why was Peter at the Capitol?"

"Peter. So he is working with Xavier."

"Yes, but for what?"

"All I caught was something about Chicago, Victors, and Divergent."

Shit. What if they were discovered? More than that, Peter was working with the Erudite, meaning they were working with the Capitol. It was more interconnected than I thought. We had to be more careful, and we needed to spend more time working with our own experiments.

"How are the chips?"

"No one's needed to use them."

"No, I wouldn't suppose so, but what about their abilities? Didn't you say they grew stronger?"

"When in the right environment, yes."

"So is Wren working with them?"

"I would suppose so." I paused to think. That made sense, the chip would improve her ability to think, and 'switch' faction mindsets. It would be able to make her Erudite in less than a minute. "We've been going to a place to work." I didn't want to risk being caught, so I was very vague. "She's been Erudite. More so than I've seen anywhere else."

"You might want to show her what you've been doing."

"When that time comes, I will."

"Soon. What with the other Erudite?"

"They're working on a new fear simulation."

"For the Dauntless?"

"No. A wireless one. One that can be used outside the landscape. We're trying to match it."

"How so?"

"Antidote. Make it before they do." That was good enough. He nodded his head.

"I wish I could talk more, but I must be going. Off for the final fitting for the president before Cali's big wedding."

"What? Why are you doing Cali's wedding?"

"She made a bit of a transformation, you could say. Doesn't trust her own stylist. And she invited the Plutarch. He seems to be ambivalent about the entire thing, but leaning to our side. Thank God."

"So he's going to her wedding which is...when?"

"In about three weeks. I can bring you as a plus one, since I'm sure Wren is bringing Theo as hers. It would be my pleasure."

"Who else will be there?"

"Adam, Wren of course, you, me, the President, and most of her friends and family. And Aeryn's family. It'll be a small thing in Annapolis, although Plutarch wanted her to have a Capitol wedding."

"Sounds good, but I might have to decline."

"Why so?"

"I don't know if Theo would want me there, and I hardly know Cali."

"Yes, but Tobias, I think you're missing the point. You'll be able to talk to Plutarch."

"But what could he do to help? What if he doesn't believe me?"

"We show him. He'll believe Wren."

"I'll go." I nodded at the screen. I would make time.

"Good. I'll have to leave you, my pager is buzzing. See you in three weeks. Get a suit!" he reverted back to his Capitol guise as the screen went black. I would have to reach him later, at a better time for all of us, Wren included.

I walked out of the video office with today's tasks, which were going to all of the other factions and then going to the schools. It was just a monthly check up on inter-faction safety, but maybe we could get some information out of it too. This had to work, otherwise we would be left in the dark, and I wouldn't be able to fill Jada in. But maybe we should have included Theo in it before he went on his own investigation.

"Four?" I heard a knock on the door from the bird girl herself.

"It's open." I stood with the papers in the main room.

She walked in and sat down, prompting me to as well. "I have information that I forgot to share with you."

"What do you mean? From where?"

"The night before I left, when I was staying in Theo's room, Peter was in there before me. Theo was blaming him for the schedules."

"And?" If Peter was going into Erudite against my will as a leader, he could be tried.

"He didn't deny making the changes. He just said it was for the greater education."

"So he deliberately disobeys the Faction itself in order to support another faction? We can try him on that, you know."

"Can we?"

"If Isaac agrees, then yes, we can."

"We have to do something. Now."

"I can't promise that." I shook my head.

"What do you mean?"

I folded my hands on the table. "Today we have to go across all the factions and pick up as much information as possible. We're going in for a monthly safety check anyway. Next, we have to talk to Jada about what we found. I called him today and we're going to all talk tonight. Then we have to go back to the airport for more tests. I want to modify the chip even more, maybe teach you to make a simulation. Then, we go to Cali's wedding. You're taking Theo. Jada is taking me. Plutarch is going to be there, and we're going to share all this information with him. After that, we have to come back, make a decision about Peter, and try him. Then you go on the Victor's tour, and I'll be looking over the Faction. We have an extensive schedule, and only we three can know about it. You, me, and Jada. I'm sorry for him, and I know you are too, but we can't include Theo."

"I don't want to. He needs to be kept from this." That sounded a lot like Tris when she kept secrets from me.

"You're not panicking."

"I'm distracted by work." she sat up straighter.

"You're also not with Theo."

"I'm with you."

"You're completely fine with not telling him about this and lying to his face." I quizzed her harder. She didn't break.

"It's for his own good." That practically came out of Tris' mouth, her own words.

"You're not getting back together so you _can_ keep this from him."

"I need to protect him." she stared me down. "Tell me Tris didn't do that for you."

"How else would I know what you're doing?" I laughed shortly. "Are you sure? If he does find out-"

"That won't happen. You just said-"

"I know what I said, but if it does happen, he's not going to like it."

"It's for the greater good."

"You are so reckless. So selfless. Maybe you are Abnegation." It was like I was talking to her. Not quite a mirror image, but a replication of her attitude.

We grabbed our guns and walked out, hitting Amity first. I didn't think they would have any information, but we were able to sneak some bread and some actual serum from them while they weren't looking. That was one faction down, and three to go.

"Nothing new there, huh?" Wren said as we got on the train again.

"Is there anything new with Amity? They're the most placid faction."

"Of course they are. What does this serum do?"

"Increase of the reward center, basically gets you high."

"Cool!"

"Hm. Not actually. Tris was so annoying when they sedated her with it."

"I wanna try some."

"No, you're not." I had to finally take it away from her before she got a taste. "Anyway, we're here."

"Abnegation?"

"That's the next one." she was about as comfortable as I was here.

We walked through the small gates to the compound, finding Evelyn's house. I already knew where it was, of course, but she was tentative to go in, being the leader's humble abode. I knocked on the door and the woman answered it.

"Tobias, what brings you around today? Who is this? Wren? Congratulations for winning." she bowed her head in true Abnegation fashion.

"Monthly safety check. What's been going on? Any concerns?" I walked into her house, my old home, and sat on the couch. Wren shyly sat next to me, sort of leaning into me. I hadn't told her about Evelyn yet, but she could sense my discomfort about the whole situation.

"Well, there hasn't been any trouble here. There wouldn't be. Can I get you something? Tea?"

"No, that'll be alright. We didn't just come for the safety check."

"What about the serum?" Wren whispered to me.

"Serum? As in the memory serum? What do you need with that?" Evelyn asked.

"Oh, we already have theirs. Wait, how do we already have theirs?"

"Here's the part where we learn more information." I turned to her, looking at Evelyn to help me out.

She started. "Each faction has a serum that is used. Well, not all of them are used. The Dauntless as you know harvest the simulation serum. That's the one used for the fear landscapes. The Amity uses peace serum, hidden in their bread, to achieve amiability. That's why no one fights."

"Unless you don't like bread." I referred to Tris' and my time there.

"Right. The Candor have their truth serum, used for initiation so you spill your secrets. Tobias can tell you all about that."

"Tris and I were under interrogation, we let it known that we were Divergent. Our biggest secret. Well, mine. Hers was killing Will, which is when I actually found out she did it."  
"Surprise." she said softly, listening intently.

"Anyway, Abnegation were in charge of the memory serum-"

"Which is made by the Fringe and given to the Abnegation. Not Erudite technology or even Abnegation technology."

"Yes, and finally, the Erudite and the Fringe have control over the death serum."

"I'm guessing it's used for death, right?"

"Right. So what is your need for all of the serums, and this information?" she looked at me.

"Well," Wren started.

"Hold on, is this place private? Like absolutely private?"

"Er, no. Wait, come on, I can show you somewhere that is."

We walked out of the house, and strolled past Tris' house. We knocked on the door and asked Caleb to come out. He obliged and shook my hand, and bowed in respect to Wren. We asked him if he had time to come with us for a few minutes, and when he agreed, we left the faction and went to the factionless.

"They still hold my office there." She explained to me. "I still have control there and it's the most private place here. No one cares about the factionless."

"What do you mean, your office?" Wren asked. She hadn't been too involved in the war, especially to know my mother. I took her hand to brace her for the blow.

"Tobias, you haven't told her?"

"I was waiting until the right moment." Same excuse I used for Tris. "My mother is the leader of Abnegation. But she was also the leader of the factionless, and in turn that sprung the Allegiant force and so on. She didn't cause the war, she wanted the Divergents safe."

"And you were a part of this?"

"I was a double agent. But when the time came, I supported peace. And so did she, I found out. She taught me about the faction system, that's how I know what I do. She helped me to learn a lot of things, and she chose me. If it were losing her memory or losing the war, she chose me."

"Okay." was all she said.

We walked through the sector of dirt and bad housing to the cleanest place, my mother's office. Once we walked in, we were able to take a seat and we looked around at each other. No one spoke. I knew I would have to.

"Caleb, this is Wren." I started with the introductions. "She's a fellow leader. We need your help. Especially with the Erudite."

He leaned forward, interested. "What can I do?"

"Introduce us to the labs. Sneak us into them today. It's a safety evaluation day, so we can go in Erudite, but we need help from the inside. And you know them pretty well."

"I can do that. But what do you need?"

"Are you aware that Peter is helping the Erudite, that school schedules include psychology in order to 'teach about Divergence' and that they are making a fear simulation serum that goes mobile?"

"No. I wasn't aware."

"Neither were we until about five days ago."

"So you want to test the serum in an empty lab or what?"

"We were hoping to get our hands on that, and a few computer programs."

"I'll try to get you in. I'm not sure if they'll recognise me."

"That's why we have extra clothing here." Evelyn cut in. "We have Erudite pants and shirts. Sometimes it's good to be factionless." she smiled.


End file.
